MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER - Tough times continue on soccer pitch as Raiders fall to Red Robins, Eagles

MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER

The frustration continued to mount Tuesday for Medford’s boys soccer team, who dropped a second 1-0 decision this season to the Antigo Red Robins.

After years of futility, the Red Robins are finally on the rise, earning their third GNC win of the season and second in a row after also beating Rhinelander 1-0 on Thursday.

The Robins earned the program’s third straight win over Medford dating back to last year. The Raiders, meanwhile, continued to struggle offensively. They got some early looks, including a breakaway shot from Michael Meyer that carried wide left just 3:30 into the game and consecutive corner kicks at the 15-minute that Medford couldn’t get a head on.

“This game was mostly confidence,” Medford head coach Adam Derr said. “Guys just weren’t passing to each other because they don’t have confidence in each other and they don’t have confidence in themselves.”

Getting that confidence back requires a simple solution.

“We have to win a game,” Derr said. “We have to get some lucky bounces or calls.”

Medford fell to 0-6-1 in the GNC and 010-2 overall. Antigo is 3-5 in league play and 4-10 overall.

The game took some twists and turns between the 60th and 70th minutes.

The first of three yellow cards issued to Antigo came at 61:54 for a delay of game after Meyer was fouled. The next one came at 63:05 and was issued against goal keeper Logan Griese on what the Raiders felt was the key play in the game. Anthony Seidel’s through ball down the middle of the field perfectly found Oliver Koffler as he beat Antigo’s last line of defense.

Griese took out Koffler with a hard tackle well outside the penalty area. The Raiders argued this was a clear scoring opportunity situation that would call for a red card. The officials disagreed, simply giving Griese a yellow card for unsporting conduct.

“That’s a clear advantage for us if they’re down to 10 men,” Derr said. “They probably don’t get that opportunity (to score).”

A Medford foul along the left sideline at 68:19 gave Antigo a direct kick from 36 yards out. Parker Chaney’s left-footed boot took one hop and skipped past Medford goal keeper Cale Schulz for the game’s lone goal.

Antigo’s third yellow card, also for unsporting conduct, gave Medford a direct kick from 31 yards out at 69:32. Schulz came all the way downfield to take the kick, but the Raiders weren’t able to turn it into anything. At 71:00, Dominic Fennell’s header off a centering pass from Meyer carried just over the crossbar. Off a handball at 75:30, Koffler’s direct kick from 32 yards out was saved by Griese.

Things won’t get any easier for Medford today, Thursday, when the Raiders visit GNC-leading Lakeland at 7 p.m. Medford will be at Rhinelander Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Raiders and Hodags played to a scoreless tie on Sept. 3 with Medford winning the shootout. GNC play ends with an Oct. 17 home game against Mosinee, which also starts at 7 p.m.

Pines 5, Medford 1

On Thursday, the Raiders came out with some energy and created a handful of scoring chances, but they couldn’t keep up with GNC contender Northland Pines, who flew away with a 5-1 win at Raider Field.

Guilherme Amariz Fonseca and AJ Muench each scored twice for the Eagles, who are in a tight battle with Lakeland top the conference standings, while Cody Vojta added a penalty kick early in the second half that opened the floodgates after Medford got to the break down just 1-0.

Led by Vojta, the Eagles’ offense has become quite potent this fall and the Raiders weren’t able to slow them down much, allowing 36 shots, 19 of which were on goal, keeping Schulz busy as he, again, had to make some tough, quick-reaction saves to keep the Raiders in it.

“Pines is a good team,” Derr said. “Again, we’re missing guys and we started slow. The first 10 minutes or so I thought we were right there. They sent a lot of long balls. We didn’t quite play great defense on (Vojta) in that first half. We kinda gave him some opportunities. In the second half, for the most part I thought we stepped up and tried to keep the shots down. They’re a good team.”

Schulz had two good saves on Vojta in the first 10 minutes, but at 10:45, Pines was first to a goal kick by Schulz and Amariz Fonseca was allowed to dribble in without being pressured and fired a 20yard one-hopper that got inside the right post.

At 12:35 a Pines pass got by Schulz giving Vojta a point-blank open look, but his left-footed shot hit the post and Schulz corralled the rebound shot by Tyler Vojta. Medford’s first good chance came at 26:45 when Hayden Spangler got the ball inside the box but couldn’t settle it enough for a good shot. Beck Mayrer did get a long shot on goal to end that sequence.

At 31:50, Meyer sent a throw-in right out in front where Koffler couldn’t quite get a head on it and Pines goalie Ryder Will beat Medford’s Ethan Emmerich to the loose ball.

At 43:25, Amariz Fonseca was tripped just inside the penalty area, giving the Eagles a penalty kick, which Cody Vojta buried, going to the upper right corner. At 47:51, Amariz Fonseca made it 3-0 as Pines quickly transitioned off a goal kick and he dribbled through a handful of Raiders before sending a shot that skidded off the turf and under Schulz’s hands. The Eagles made it 4-0 at 56:45 when Muench got an easy tap-in off a perfect centering pass from Cody Vojta.

Meyer got Medford’s goal at 65:51, taking a long free kick from Schulz and weaving his way through a trio of Eagle defenders and then burying a sliding shot from 10 yards out.

“Michael’s goal was just pure hustle on his part,” Derr said.

Muench closed the scoring at 74:13, getting the goal off a Cody Vojta corner kick.

“Their last two goals were ones where two or three guys should’ve cleared and didn’t and they got a wide open shot,” Derr said. “We have to get a touch on those.”